Is the new iOS App Store a step forward or step back for mobile app developers, users, and the app economy overall? Some developers are complaining that since the introduction of the Chomp-inspired App Store redesign in iOS 6, sales have noticeably dropped. Others say the changes are good for indie developers.
Whichever side of the coin you’re on, there are a number of reasons why developers… → Read More
Here is a reminder for developers who want to write apps for Windows 8′s Metro mode (or whatever Microsoft prefers to call it these days): the only way to distribute your apps to consumers is through the Windows Store. This isn’t actually a new policy but one that Microsoft announced a year ago. Judging from this Hacker News thread, though, this still comes as a surprise to many developers and… → Read More
The iOS 6 App Store changes are being met with mixed reviews, and I actually am not a huge fan of how they work from a user experience standpoint. But how are the changes affecting the ranking of apps, something developers depend heavily on for App Store success? Berlin- and London-based mobile analytics firm adeven, which recently launched Apptrace, an App Store performance comparison tool… → Read More
One of the most noticeable consumer-facing changes in the new version of Apple’s mobile operating system, iOS 6, is the updated App Store application for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Apple chose not to focus on the changes during this morning’s announcement – perhaps because details were already revealed thanks to developer leaks showing the new user interface in action. But the App Store has… → Read More
Looks like Google Play is growing up, combing its hair and trying to move away from its Wild West image: Android’s app store team has sent out a letter to its tens of thousands of developers informing them that it is making several changes to tighten its developer app policies. Areas that are covered include naming apps, app icons, payments, privacy, spam and advertising — effectively, a set of… → Read More
It’s no secret that the mobile app landscape has become extremely competitive. Over the last few years, this has led to an incredible amount of innovation and progress, but the cost of visibility — of acquiring new users — is also on the rise. In fact, Fiksu found that the cost of acquiring users hit a record high in December. While December is a critical month for app discovery, it remained to… → Read More
On its Q3 earnings call, Apple announced that there are over 650,000 apps on the Apple App Store, up from 600K in April of this year. Apple exec Peter Oppenheimer also mentioned that 250,000 of those apps were developed specifically for iPad.
Perhaps more importantly to you hungry entrepreneurs, Apple paid out approximately $5.5 billion to developers. This is a huge jump from the $4 billion… → Read More
Last week we were alerted to an interesting tweak that had appeared in the Apple App Store: searches for apps were suddenly ranking results higher by user ratings and app descriptions, rather than the names of the apps themselves. Today, one developer says he’s started to notice another change: Apple is now putting a bigger emphasis on keywords plus names.
Tomasz Kolinko, a developer and one of… → Read More
Apple’s App Store has always been a behemoth. It was the first of its kind. Still, the growth for this platform is astounding, with Tim Cook today reporting 30 billion downloads from the App Store since its inception. Even more incredible, the platform has paid out over $5 billion to its developers. “It’s becoming an economy in and of itself,” said Cook. → Read More
In an apparent effort to help its users find more interesting apps in its cavernous digital stores, Apple today made an interesting tweak to its iOS and Mac app stores. Both now feature a “free app of the week” and an “editor’s choice” section. As Apple’s official App Store Twitter account announced yesterday, Cut the Rope: Experiments is Apple’s choice for this week’s free app in the iOS store. → Read More
It’s hard to underestimate how important ranking in Apple’s top 25 in the iTunes store is for mobile app developers. After all, the top 25 is what one of the most important app discovery mechanisms for iOS users. But how many downloads does it take to make it into the top 25? Mobile analytics firm Distimo today published some interesting data that answer just this question. Turns out, in the U.S. → Read More
Way to blow your own horn, Google. Yesterday a newspaper in the UK, the Independent, ran a short item about how Google was about to reach an app milestone — 15 billion apps downloaded! So we reached out to Google to ask about this… and guess what? It already happened.
A Google spokesperson tells us that the milestone was passed “a few weeks ago.” → Read More
Warsaw-based, three-person startup AppCod.es just released new tools that will appeal to mobile app developers, both of which are intent on helping developers achieve better ASO, or App Store Optimization. ASO is basically a new form of SEO, but instead of boosting search engine rankings, it’s about boosting the ranking of your mobile app in iTunes, the Android Market (I mean Google Play…sigh)… → Read More
A bit of news that squeaked out during the Win8 festivities was the launch of the Microsoft app store. In the version of the software I was using, the app has always been there but it wasn’t available until today. To be clear, the app store here is still in its absolute infancy and is, at best, a hall of demos for various app providers.
The real test of Windows 8 will be the adoption of the… → Read More
The US Department of Defense Explosive Ordinance Disposal unit is look for a few good coders to help build apps and an entire app store for bomb technicians and soldiers involved in ordnance handling. This is when sliding to unlock could mean the difference between life or death.
The request for proposals is as dull as dirt (you can read it hear) but the requirements are clear: they’re looking… → Read More
Yesterday, Bloomberg published a story stating that Apple had made a major (and, frankly, somewhat surprising) change to its App Store policies: it was going to begin allowing game publishers to sell bundles of games as monthly subscriptions, as opposed to a la carte. Historically all games on the App Store have been sold as one-off purchases (or for free), and they can generate further revenue by… → Read More
Research firm research2guidance this morning published a (free) report, offering key findings from an analysis of mobile applications store Android Market.
According to the firm, the number of active mobile apps in Android Market stood at 319,161 at the end of last month, compared to 459,589 apps that are available in Apple’s App store (the company claims there are 500,000 apps, actually). → Read More
Today, third-party mobile application store GetJar is publicly launching its GetJar Gold service, which has been in beta testing for the past month. The new service presents a viable challenge to Amazon’s Appstore and its time-limited “free app of the day” by offering an entire catalog of premium Android applications for free. The apps are high quality, ad-free and are available for download at… → Read More
“Yeah, each new iOS announcement is very… bittersweet. We love it because it means new APIs for us to build on, bug fixes for things we’ve had to work around, and, ideally, more people buying the platform we build for. But then we spend months getting slammed by bad reviews, all written by people who just don’t understand: until the release goes gold, beta-specific bugs are not our fault.” — A… → Read More
The more mobile apps come out, the bigger the discovery problem gets for users: Apple, for example, recently announced they have 425,000 apps in the App Store. Rankings, recommendations from platform providers or search often bring unsatisfying results – a pain that an app called AppGrooves [version 2.0, free on iTunes] now tries to solve. → Read More
Not a huge deal for the average user, but Apple has just announced volume sales support for organizations who want to pick up a few dozen copies of a certain iOS app. The new system is fairly simple: you select the app you want, select the number of seats, and pay with a credit card. It’s not clear if you can get bulk discounts yet but Apple then gives you a license for each device. → Read More
Most of you will agree when I say that one of the coolest features of Google+ is Circles, which lets you create groups of people to share specific things with, rather than sharing with everyone in your network by default. Today I came across an iOS app that basically has the same system in place, but for voicemail.
It’s called On Voicefeed and it lets you build groups (family, friends, work… → Read More
Remember that whole trademark tiff between Apple and Amazon over the generic or non-generic term “app store?”
Despite going quiet for the past month, the case is certainly not over, although statements made by U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton suggest that Apple may be losing steam in its fight. → Read More
At WWDC 2011, Apple announced that there are now more than 400K apps in its app store (and that more than 500K have been approved). The Android Marketplace has around 300K apps and is growing fast. The point is: There are a lot apps out there already, and more hit app stores every day. They’re going like hotcakes. But finding and discovering new apps that you actually care about? Eh, not so easy. → Read More
Short version: Rosetta Stone launched its iPad app today, which is basically just a lighter version of its core “course” software. The app itself is nothing extraordinary, but the way it teaches languages is pretty awesome. Foreign language has never been my best subject, but I had a blast playing with this app because it feels way more like a puzzle than a language lesson. The worst part is the… → Read More
For as long as I can remember, there has been one app that has constantly held the top paid app spot in Apple’s App Store: Angry Birds. Sure, other apps surge to the top briefly. But Angry Birds always comes flying right back. But a new app appears to be bucking that trend. Today is day 3 of The Heist‘s reign, and sales are quickening.
As The Loop noted after a partial day 1, The Heist saw… → Read More
There’s no doubt Android Market will at some point offer more applications for download and/or purchase than Apple’s App Store, as the latter’s growth has been slowing down of late, while the Android application store’s growth rate has been accelerating.
In a recent report, app store analytics company Distimo forecasted that Android would surpass the App Store in size before the end of July 2011… → Read More
App store analytics provider Distimo today published its latest report, once again zooming in on the pricing of mobile applications across a variety of platforms. We got an exclusive early look at the new report.
According to Distimo, Google’s Android Market currently offers 134,342 free applications for download, while Apple’s App Store for iPhone offers 121,845 free applications. → Read More
I see you driving ’round town with an app that measures cellular radiation, and I’m like, “no interest”.
Apple head honcho Steve Jobs has made it abundantly clear that Tawkon‘s phone radiation measurement application is not welcome on its official App Store, pushing the startup to make it available for free (for jailbroken iPhones) through Cydia instead.
Tawkon sent a courteous email to Jobs in… → Read More
Don’t call it an app store. Apple has sued Amazon over the latter’s use of the term “Appstore,” with a spokeswoman saying that it “will confuse and mislead consumers,” tricking them into thinking they’re downloading software from its own App Store. Apple says it’s tried to contact Amazon at least three times, but Amazon hasn’t made any public comment yet. → Read More
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